Wallabies captain Michael Hooper admits his side could not match Springboks

CAPE TOWN: Michael Hooper told it straight after the Wallabies' late-game collapse against South Africa, admitting "we couldn't keep up with them" as the Springboks powered home 28-10 with three tries in the final eight minutes on Saturday.

Hooper could not pinpoint why the Wallabies, who have proven many times over they are capable of finishing well, could muster nothing in response to their opponents' second-half ferocity.

Jean de Villiers scored the first of his two tries in the final eight minutes. Photo: AFP

It could have had something to do with the 260 tackles the side made during the match or the impact of the gruelling trip across the Indian Ocean. Or both.

Either way, it cost the Wallabies a lead they built and defended until the 70th minute and will make for a most frustrating review session in Argentina early next week.

"I was very pleased with the effort, it was outstanding in the first half. At half-time we set ourselves up," McKenzie said.

"It was always going to be difficult. I guess we were still in it at the 70-minute mark. To let in three tries at the end was a really disappointing finish and probably an unfair reflection on the contribution of the team had put in across that 70 minutes."

The Wallabies have some injury concerns too.

Inside centre Matt Toomua's fate is in the hands of concussion protocols, with the Wallabies on a watching brief after the Brumbies playmaker took a head knock in the second half. Rob Simmons also took a head knock, while No.8 Ben McCalman injured his shoulder.

It forced the Wallabies into changes earlier than McKenzie would have liked.

"There are some guys there who were doing some good work for us who were all gone just around half-time or after," he said.

There were also opportunities on attack that the Wallabies will wish they had taken in the first half and early in the second, before they were forced into a defensive battle for the ages.

Springboks coach Heyneke Meyer paid tribute to Australia's "awesome" defence, while De Villiers, who recovered from a patchy first half to bag a double in front of his home town crowd, said the South Africans broke down the visitors.

"We always said that if we stick to our structures in the first 60 to 70 minutes, we believe we can break them down in the last 10 [minutes]," de Villiers said.

"It came down to that and once we got that bit of momentum and the crowd got behind us we were just unstoppable at stages.

"It was probably one of the best 10 minutes that I've been involved with."